Glossary
Prize pool
The money paid out in a contest: the entries collected, held by a custodian, plus anything Speed Labs adds.
Also called: pot, prize fund
What a prize pool is
A prize pool is the total amount a contest pays out to its winners. In Speed Survivor it starts with the entry fees collected from everyone who entered that contest. That money is held by a third-party custodian, not by Speed Labs. Speed Labs may add prizes on top, and anything it adds becomes part of the pool too.
The pool is then paid out down the contest's payout tiers, which are published on the contest page before lock.
An example
The DET Lions at BUF Bills contest on September 17, 2026 drew 118 entries at $20 each, which collected $2,360. The contest paid out $3,400. The difference, $1,040, was money Speed Labs added above what the entries put in. The top 40 finishers were paid from that $3,400, with $1,000 to first place.
The arithmetic is the same in every recap: entries times the fee is what was collected, and the amount paid out minus what was collected is what was added.
Who funds it
Other entrants do. That is the difference between a pool and a sportsbook payout. A sportsbook pays winners from its own money at odds it sets. A contest pool pays winners from what the field put in, so you are competing against the other players rather than against the company.
In Speed Survivor
Every paid contest has its own pool, funded by the entries in that contest. Pools are never described on this site as fixed or promised in advance; Speed Labs may top them up, and the recaps show what each contest actually paid. How it works explains the split, and the recaps page lists every settled pool.
Play tonight's game.
Use code SPEED when you sign up. iOS now, Android through the app link.
